The Furnace Kitchen — Restaurant in England

Would not trust thier gluten free options as the waiter, lady working on the till and kitchen staff believe they use flour that 'is made from wheat with the gluten taken out' ...this is NOT a thing!

Went in with my 12yo and 17yo for lunch. Very cool decor and the guy who looked after us was friendly, polite and very helpful. My daughter and I have a wheat allergy and the only GF marked option on the menu was soup, so I apologised and asked if it was OK to just get my son a chicken burger and chips (kids menu is £6.50ish) a diet coke, pot of tea and bottle of water.

The guy immediately said they can do all the rolls and pizza gluten free and ran off to the kitchen to see if they were wheat free. He came back and apologised that the kitchen staff had said they do use a gluten free flour but it is made from wheat with the gluten removed. I didn't want to make a fuss so I just ordered my sons food and the drinks.

The food (which looked lovely) and drinks came out fast and the portion seemed large for a kids meal, he had coleslaw, bacon, sauce, lettuce and onion. I scraped off the sauce and salad and my son ate the remainder. We were there for about 30mins.

Went to the till and was charged £20.50, so I assume they had charged me for an adult meal instead, I didn't complain as I felt bad only one of us had eaten.

The lady on the till asked if we had a nice meal so I apologised I had one fussy eater and my daughter and I couldn't really eat anything, she told me I was the only customer she had ever come across which a wheat allergy and its quite tricky and a 'shame' they couldn't help, I said I wasn't complaining but if the kitchen can do gluten free it doesn't say so on the menu so they could be missing a trick as we usually find something on the gluten free menu and maybe not everyone is specific, she then continued to wo-mansplain to me that gluten isn't the same as wheat it's actually a protein that makes dough stretchy, and that the flour they use is wheat flour with the gluten taken out! I said I'm quite happy to go home and have a Google but I've never heard of that and I'm pretty sure it isn't a thing and I've been wheat free for nearly twelve years, she said I must be the world authority on wheat free then but told me I'm wrong and it is, and that even doves farm flour is made from wheat, I said I bake a lot and I buy doves farm and its made from different grains, she said she thinks I'll find it is! (To be clear Doves Farm GF flour absolutely contains NO wheat). I asked if she seriously thought there was a lab somewhere with people removing the gluten from wheat, to which she replied it would be good as I could eat everything, (missing the point that I can't eat wheat!) I laughed it off to try and escape by saying think how fat I'd be then, and left.

I think they may be referring to wheat starch, which is a starch removed from wheat and can be found in some gluten free products as it only contains minute traces of gluten. I usually know which products to avoid for this, ie tortilla chips, but I have never found it in a flour substitute. Either way I would not trust this eatery if you have an allergy as thier knowledge seems...

A cafe, in what used to be the 'Hands On' building of the museum, with very few changes to the interior. So the large room has a high ceiling, paved floors and no soft furnishings which makes for an extremely noisy experience, voices and scraping chairs echoing round, not comfortable at all. Food is a 'modern menu' so does not include traditional breakfast items and it is very expensive, however service was quick. The entrance is accessible and there is plenty of room inside for wheelchair users. As other reviewers have pointed out, the car park is a pay car park, and again not cheap. I can understand this for visitors to the museum, or for walkers but the cafe should be exempt as in other restaurants and cafes round the country. The fees provide for upkeep of the museum but if the fee is compulsory then it is not a voluntary donation. Altogether...

A really disappointing experience.

When I arrived all the staff were busy, so I took a seat. I got essentially told off by a waitress for this. My mistake, I thought, so just forgot about it.

I arrived at Noon at it took 20 minutes to take my drinks order and I didn’t get order any food until gone 12.45pm. Again though, they had warned that the kitchen was a little behind (they said 10 minutes) and a large group arrived just after me so no big deal.

Then, as one of our group went to the toilet a waitress grabbed the empty chair (without asking) to give to another group. We very politely informed them that there was in fact someone sitting there. “You should have put a bag there, then” came the reply. Very unpleasant & totally unreasonable.

I won’t be returning & I certainly wouldn’t recommend...